Weakest Link
by Clockmaker
Summary: Someone thinks that Beast Boy is the weak link of the Teen Titans, and tries to take advantage of that. Will Beast Boy be able to hold out? (Angstiness and a helping of BBRae on the side)
1. Opening Show

Rain spattered on the empty streets. Even the main roads through that passed towering glass-faced offices and a wealth of storefront windows were deserted. The clouds weren't just a patch of another color in the sky: they bellied low and damp over the city with an almost tangible air of gloom. Even the special effects of the weather world had given up on this dismal plot of land. No thunder, no lightning, no tearing wind graced it. Just... rain. A gray, listless wetness covered everything. It was a perfect day for the type of people who like staring sadly out windows and sighing dramatically, maybe shedding an occasional tear for the look of things. The weather was summed up with skill by one simple phrase.

"Dude, this sucks!" Beast Boy scowled out at the slate-gray ocean. "I mean, come on, how long can it rain for? It's been a week already!" He turned from the huge window to a girl sitting on the semi-circle couch. The giant room dwarfed her curled-up form. She didn't look up at the green boy's outburst, just calmly turned another page in the heavy tome she held. Beast Boy trotted over and threw himself upside-down on the couch just to annoy the girl.

"Hey, Raven, have you seen Cyb-"

"No. And I like this weather, for your information," Raven cut in in a monotone, not looking up from her book.

"Well... d'you wanna watch Wicked Sca-"

"No."

"Play a video ga-"

"No."

"How about letting me finish a sentence? Geez..." Beast Boy rolled his eyes. Despite herself, Raven smiled just a little, but quickly resumed her flat expression.

"Cyborg is working on the T-Car."

"Hey, thanks!" Beast Boy looked up in surprise at the answer, then narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "How did you know that if you haven't seen him?"

"He's always working on the T-Car. I find it hard to believe you needed to ask." Raven dismissed his question scathingly. The green teenager flipped himself upright and walked off, grumbling. At the doorway, he turned around and pulled a face at Raven.

"I saw that." Beast Boy gave a squeak of surprise, clapped his hands over his mouth, and scampered out the door. Alone now, Raven shut her book and put up the hood of her dark cloak, walking to the window overlooking the bay. She always felt so guilty about blocking Beast Boy's attempts to get her to come out of herself and show emotion. But she couldn't let herself be tempted. She had no choice. Raven was startled out of her thoughtful reverie by a loud alarm. As she ran to the screen showing a map of the city, others dashed into the room. First Beast Boy returned, then a girl zipped in to come to a stop hovering feet above the ground, long red hair mussed from the rush to get to the room. A second later a boy with spiky black hair dashed in checking his belt to make sure it carried all necessary gadgets. Last of all Cyborg arrived from working on the car, just as Raven had predicted. He greeted the black haired boy and floating girl.

"Hey Robin, Starfire. Wazzup this time?" He watched the screen while wiping grease off his hands and some of the tools attached to his cybernetic arm. Robin examined the moving blip on the map.

"Trouble. Looks like it's at the park this time." He took charge of the situation instantly. "Cy, take the T-Car. The rain might damage you. Beast Boy, Star, fly ahead and do what you can. Raven, go with Cyborg. I'll take the R-cycle. Teen Titans, go!" There was a flurry of movement as everyone exited at one time. In the empty room, the lights shut off, leaving the screen to glow to itself in the dark as raindrops left silvery trails down the windows.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Starfire and a green eagle arrived at the park soaked and shivering. The eagle suddenly sprouted into a dripping Beast Boy. As he beckoned to Starfire and tromped off through the mud, the alien girl heard him muttering, "Who in their right mind would decide to be all criminal in this weather? In the park? Now I'm wet, and it's still raining, and I'm muddy, and what can they do, anyways, steal a bench, what's the point, wet, rain, mud, bleh..." His voice trailed off. "Hey Star?"

"Beast Boy, I do not see any badness here. Maybe it is wished that we should stop the rain! That is bad, is it not?"

"Star?"

"We can make a giant umbrella to cover the whole city! Then this wetness will-" She stopped abruptly. "I can hear something. That bubbly sound is...not...good?"

"Way not good." Beast Boy looked down at the mud he had been standing in and gave a hoarse shriek. "WA! PULL ME OUT PULL ME OUT PULL ME OUT!" He grabbed Starfire's feet and she flew upwards, hard and fast. There was a sucking sound as one of Beast Boy's boots came free, but the other one was stuck fast. Starfire kept on straining, and one last yank pulled his foot out of the shoe.

"NO, that's my SHOE!" Beast Boy didn't object, though, when Starfire didn't go back for the boot but flew over to a tree to land safely in the branches. The two stared down at the mud. It bubbled angrily in patches, and when raindrops hit, they burst into tortured clouds of steam. In other places, it looked rock hard, but was given away for the tar- like glue it was by the presence of squirrels, mice, and birds desperately trying to move off the surface without success.

"There is no way this is normal," Beast Boy said in disbelief. "At least there aren't any people here 'cuz of the rain." They looked toward the road at the sound of engines approaching. "Hey ROBIN! DON'T STEP ON THE MUD!" Beast Boy bellowed from his perch. Starfire flew around nervously.

"Come, let us warn them. I think they cannot hear us!"

"Yeah, let's go." Beast Boy shrank to falcon form and flew as fast as he could after the already departed Starfire.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the edge of the park, Robin, Cyborg, and Raven stood staring at the granite arch that marked the entrance. At least, what had been an arch at one point. Now it was a ruin, four giant, twisted trees rooted around the base and horribly contorted around each other. The black, peeling bark and naked branches made it seem like the grotesquely formed trees had died long ago. Cyborg was the first to take action.

"Well, whatever's wrong with this baby, it's goin' down!" He charged the sonic cannon in his robotic arm, aimed, and was about to fire when Starfire streaked over the tops of the trees. Suddenly, the branches reached up and snatched at her, curling and whipping to try to trap the girl. Lightning fast, she dodged all of them and jerked to a stop in front of the three Titans, babbling about the mud as fast as she could.

"Do not enter this place, the mud boils and is sticky and I think it will try to eat you, I do not want you eaten by mud, that would be terrible!"

"Ummmm... Thanks for the tip Star." Robin looked around. "Where's Beast Boy?"

"Oh, he is coming, do not worry." Before anyone could even think another thought, a crack of maniacal laughter echoed through the empty street. Robin smiled grimly. "I think we've found our villan."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Just seconds after Starfire had flown over the tree-barrier, Beast Boy found himself hurtling toward a wall of tangled trunks without any time to bank or pull up. In a split second, he spied a tiny opening and tilted to fly through. He was just coming out the other side when a branch snapped down to grab his tail feathers. With a squawk of dismay, he was pulled up short, and turned human again. Thankfully, the tree only had him by the foot. It turned into a tug-of-war that ended when Beast Boy's foot slipped out of his remaining boot, sending him tumbling backwards.

"No WAY am I going to lose both shoes in one day!" He dove to grab his boot, and didn't even notice that the tentacle-like branches were already prepared to catch him until it was too late.


	2. Meet the Contestants

Hallo people! Thanks for reading my story. Please leave comments! And, ummm... yeah. That's it. Enjoy chapter 2!

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Robin ran through the rain, dashing across empty streets in pursuit of the laughter he'd heard. He skidded to a sudden stop at an intersection and Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire nearly crashed into him from behind.

"Which way?" Raven's monotone was as emotionless as always. Robin paused, then, without a word, turned sharply right and sprinted down a narrow, dirty alley. Cy rolled his eyes as he followed.

"Someone sure is talkative today..." It was much drier in the alley, overhanging roofs providing protection from the downpour. But it was also pitch dark, a little gloomy light doing nothing more than highlight the shadows. And the laughter was only feet away! Robin squinted into the dark.

"Hey, Cy, Star, could you give us some light?" Cyborg lit a flashlight on his shoulder just as Starfire gathered a glowing ball of energy in one hand. The combined lights simultaneously tore through the shadows, showing the source of the laughter in stark relief.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Beast Boy was hopelessly tangled in the branches around him. Even when he tried to change into a mouse to wiggle out, vines just tightened around him faster than he could move. Suddenly, the branches sucked themselves into a crack between two trees, drawing Beast Boy with them. He didn't even have time to feel surprised before the tree limbs let go, dropping him into an inky black pit. After a second, he realized that he hadn't hit bottom yet. With a shock he realized that if the pit was really that deep, a fall might injure him- or even prove fatal. A cold draft of air wafted from below and Beast Boy snapped into falcon form, flying back up and calling as loud as he could in hopes his friends would hear. He tried to fly upwards in the confined space, straining to see the walls in the dark, when he slammed into something above his head: the tree roots had closed over the opening of the pit! Dazed, Beast Boy tried to fly upwards again, but hit the roots with even more force, nearly knocking himself unconscious. Too disoriented to keep an animal form, he changed to human, and fell back through the shadows.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"It's... a... CD player!" Cyborg looked at the box incredulously. "Man, I thought we were actually going to get to fight something!" Raven, Starfire, Cy, and Robin clustered around the cheap boombox. Robin folded his arms with a furious look on his face.

"I can't believe I fell for that. This is the stupidest trick I've ever seen! Come on, let's get back to the park. We can find Beast Boy and maybe figure out what's going on over there. Bring the CD player, and turn it off. That cackling is really annoying." Raven rolled her eyes as she floated past, using a jet of black magic to shut down the device.

ooooooooooooooooooooooo

Beast Boy was vaguely aware that his fall had sped up. Shaking his head to clear it, he spread out his arms and legs like a skydiver, trying to slow himself down. He didn't need to, as it turned out. The walls started to turn, so he was sliding along one at an angle which got less and less steep. Beast Boy lay down on the slide, still moving fast, and held his head in his hands, trying to stop the ringing in his ears. After what seemed like ages, his head stopped throbbing.

"I wonder how far underground I am." Beast Boy started talking to himself to pass the time. "It's probably a couple miles 'r something like that. Who would spend their time building underground slides that long? They must have a lotta free time. I mean, if it's for fun, it's not fun, 'cuz this is the most boring thing ever. It goes on forever! And what was with that pit at the top? Is this like a garbage chute or something? I wonder-" He was cut off suddenly as the end of the tunnel-like slide appeared with dim shaft of light. "FINALLY!"

The green boy shot out of the mouth of the slide, tumbling painfully along the rough stone floor. "Hello? Anybody here? Someone feel like telling me where I am? And why there's a massive slide under a random hole in the ground?" Beast Boy got up stiffly, rubbing his arm where he'd bruised it against the floor and staring around warily. The cavern he was in was huge. He could barely see the ceiling, lost as it was in the height and dim light. The walls arced out around in a rectangular or oval type shape, stretching ahead as far as the eye could see. All the dim, empty space made Beast Boy nervous and he turned around, trying to see everything. The uneven floor and jutting, rocky walls cast strange shadows. Anyone or anything could be hiding anywhere. The more time passed, the more jumpy Beast Boy became. Soon he was crouching by a broken stone pillar, whipping around every time he heard even the smallest noise.

"C'mon, if there's someone there, could you come out? Haven't you waited long enough?" he called out desperately.

"You're right. I think I have." A dark figure exploded out from behind the very pillar Beast Boy had his back to, knocking him down and pinning him to the floor with his arm twisted behind his back.

"Who the hell are you?" Beast Boy demanded, and the figure jerked his arm around. Beast Boy gave a gasp of pain and tried unsuccessfully to turn his head to look behind him.

"You know who I am. I'd like to do you a favor."

"What, you mean getting off my back?" There was a low chuckle from behind.

"Oh, no. Something far more useful. I'm about to tell your future."

"Okaayy... So, are you going to tell me or not, 'cuz this is kinda uncomfortable."

"Very well. You are about to betray the Teen Titans."


	3. Play the Game

Thanks everyone for reviewing!!! Sorry about not putting up the second chapter sooner. I was traveling, and didn't have computer access (arg!). Once again, reviews are welcome. I hope the formatting is fixed, plz tell me if it's still hard to read.  
  
Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven trudged back through the rain. It had gotten lighter, and the pounding drops were replaced with an eerie, misty drizzle. Things seemed even creepier when they arrived at the park gates.  
  
"What happened?" Cyborg stood scratching his head. Raven floated up to one of the gates' pillars and ran a hand over the cold, wet stone. "It looks like nothing happened. It's as though nothing strange were ever here," she said. The four teens gaped at what had moments ago been a deadly forest and broken, ruinous gates. Now it was returned to its original state as though by magic! Starfire frowned, and flew off along the park path.  
  
"Hey, wait up!" Robin called after her. A second later, he and his two friends had caught up with the alien girl.  
  
"Look, look! The mud isn't- isn't- bubbling anymore! It is all normal again! You did not see before, but it was dangerous over here," Starfire spread her hands and swept her arms vaguely over the landscape as though to illustrate what she'd said.  
  
"How could everything just disappear like that? I'm sure it wasn't an illusion..." Robin mused. Cyborg cut in impatiently. "Well, whatever it was, we've got something to go by: the CD player. We can try to track it to whoever got this baby. They'll either be the bad guy or have inside info on the bad guy. But we can't do that here, we need to go to the tower. So let's find BB and get outta here!"  
  
"For once, I agree with you." Raven muttered. "Check the communicator. It'll be faster than yelling like idiots," she added as Cy and Robin started shouting for Beast Boy. Rolling his eyes, Robin flipped out his own communicator and set it to locate. After a second, he gave it a weird look, shook it, and tried again.  
  
"What is wrong? Is it a technical error?" Starfire leaned over Robin's shoulder, letting her flaming hair brush his face. Blushing as red as his friend's hair, Robin held the communicator out for everyone to see. "Look at this!" he tapped the screen in irritation. "It shows Beast Boy being right over there, by the left hand gate pillar. He's nowhere in sight! Let's go check anyways."  
  
The four teens headed over and looked the area over. Beast Boy- or his communicator- was nowhere to be found. Bending down to look at the ground, Raven checked her own communicator. According to it, she was standing right on top of him! She took a step back, a litte disturbed. Also curious, she knelt again and scraped some of the rain-soft dirt to the side, digging a small hole. On an impulse, Raven sent a shaft of black magic drilling down a several feet, stuck her arm into the newly-opened space and felt around.  
  
Almost instantly, she pulled back out again, disgusted with herself for doing something so illogical. What had she expected to find, anyways? There wasn't any magic solution down there. All she'd felt was what could be expected: thick, criss-crossing tree roots, just like any others.  
  
ooooooooooooooo  
  
"WHAT?" Beast Boy shouted and tried again to twist away from his captor, but to no avail. "You're nuts! I'd never betray my friends. Ever!"  
  
"Ah, don't you believe me? Let's put this to the test," the silky, sinister voice said from behind him. "What has happened in the past? Your parents, that's right. You abandoned them as they were drowning. You could have saved them, but no. You are useless."  
  
Beast Boy's eyes widened in shock and pain. "How...how did...you..."  
  
"Oh, I have my sources. I know quite a lot about you and the rest of the Teen Titans. And I know you are as useless to them as you were to your dying parents. You are nothing to them. Dead weight. An extra attachment. Useless."  
  
"Shut up! It's not like I had a choice, I was five when my parents died, I didn't know what to do! And I am NOT useless! Just shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up..." The green boy bit his lip, trying to control his whirling thoughts. Suddenly, he exploded into tiger form- but halfway through the transformation gave a half-human half-animal cry and shrank back to his normal body. With his arm held twisted behind him, changing to a larger form would wrench his shoulder out of its socket. A low chuckle echoed through the cavern.  
  
"Not so smart... You can't even escape from this simple move. I'm disappointed, I have to say. I suppose I'll have to let you go, since you are apparently incapable of doing anything on your own." The dark figure untwisted Beast Boy's arm slowly, then gave a powerful jerk that threw the boy down on his back. Winded and gasping, Beast Boy rolled over and pushed himself to his hands and knees, getting a look at his captor for the first time.  
  
"Slade!"  
  
"It took you long enough. You should have been able to guess the first moment you heard my voice. Even for one such as you that was surprisingly slow."  
  
"Cut it out. I'm a Teen Titan, I'm not useless, and I sure as hell am not stupid!" Beast Boy's growling words rose to a crescendo, and he changed into a t-rex and charged Slade, insanely furious and full of boiling anger.  
  
"Tsk tsk. Can't have any animals running loose in here," Slade said calmly, not even moving out of the way. At the last second, he sprang upwards to land on the dinosaur's shoulder. Digging his fingers into the scaly flesh, Slade kicked upwards under Beast Boy's jaw, shoving his foot into his temple. Beast Boy froze, shaking, and shrank back into human form. Slade instantly grabbed the boy's neck, pressing his thumb into the spot where his foot had been. Beast Boy tried to move, but could barely feel his limbs. Black spots swam in front of his eyes and there was a buzzing, swarming sound in his ears.  
  
"This is a pressure point. Useful things, aren't they? Don't try to do anything foolish again. I may have to kill you next time." Slade released Beast Boy, and the skinny boy fell to the ground limply, trying to focus. The buzzing was receding, but still uncomfortably there, and it was still hard to see. He reached up with a trembling hand to feel the spot Slade had been pressing. It was painfully swollen already, and it felt like the swelling was moving down across his neck, check and jaw.  
  
"Okay. Whatever," Beast Boy conceded hoarsely. "What do you want, anyways?"  
  
"Finally you behave. I want information. Information on how to create a cage that no Titan will ever be able to escape."  
  
"And why should I tell you this?"  
  
"Because you are useless to them. Because they do not care about you. Because you can be useful to me. And because you will die if you don't. 


	4. Relativity

WOW. I'm… I'm not… _dead_. W00t! This is a development. This is also very late. Very, very late. Uhm… sorry! meekly cowers in shame Maybe I should actually write the chapter now, instead of sitting here babbling excuses.

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Time is relative. A month can pass in moments, like when you look back on summer and realize that the days just trickled though your fingers like water and are now gone forever. The same month could last an eternity, crawling past as the monotonous seconds pound your mind into a state of endless limbo.

Raven traced a pattern on the window with a finger. Yes. This was definitely the slowest month she had ever experienced. Sun shafted though the dust in the air, illuminating Raven's usually dark room with thick, silent, golden light. She leaned her forehead against the glass, perfectly expressionless. This was the first day that they hadn't been back.

Back to the park.

When Beast Boy hadn't returned the day after that strange incident at the park, none of the Titans had been too worried. BB could fend for himself pretty well, and he would call if he needed help, right? He would show up soon enough, there was nothing to fret over, it would all be fine. Despite the reassurances, there was an undercurrent of panic. Faint though it was, Starfire couldn't live with the feeling, and nervously suggested that they check the park, just in case Beast Boy had gotten stuck there somehow. In the mud at the gates, they found his shoe.

By the end of the first week, there was no more signal from his communicator.

The police were notified, people were questioned. No one had seen anything that rainy day. Everyone had retreated indoors, deserting the park and the scene of the disappearance. At the beginning of the third week, Robin had begun to suggest that maybe – just maybe – Beast Boy wasn't coming back.

The Titans kept going. They cooked meals, went shopping, fought crime. Raven meditated every moment that wasn't occupied with life's basic necessities or searching for Beast Boy. She even stopped reading, abandoning books in favor of the blank calm of an empty, emotionless mind. And every day, they went to the park. The search grew wearier, more listless. They knew it was hopeless now.

So they stopped. Raven didn't know what to do with herself. There _was_ nothing to do with herself.

_Forget. _Raven shut her eyes against the sunlight in her room. _That's all I can do. Forget, and move on. I'll forget that there was ever a person who knew… Who knew how to make me… happy._ She stood and let the warm honey light wash over her. Then with one sweeping motion, swished the curtains shut and stood alone in the dark.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

_Click_. An armored finger tapped a button and the blackness of the room was illuminated by the pallid glow of a huge computer screen.

"Blessed silver for the demon girl."

_Click._ The screen flickered gently to a different diagram.

"Tamaranian steel for the alien."

_Click_. Another flicker.

"Charged copper and titanium for the robot."

_Click_.

"Ah, yes, the carbon matrix for my favorite brat. I was impressed that you knew about that one. Seeing exactly how untrustworthy you are, I'm surprised he provided you with that information." Slade didn't bother to look behind him. He could sense the wince, feel the pain and shame emanating from the green boy who stood there.

"It was just- just mentioned in passing," Beast Boy muttered, looking down at his bare feet, shoulders hunched. Slade laughed darkly.

"Of course. Why would he tell you directly? Even he must have doubted that you would understand at all." Slade closed the blueprints displayed on the screen, typing in codes to hack the Titan's main computer system. "You have proved to be more traitor than I could have hoped. Perhaps I shall reward you: I will let _you_ be the one to announce your betrayal of your friends. I am sure that you will be well-received by those you sold to their enemies."

Beast Boy's head twitched, as though he had been about to look up in shock, but controlled the reaction. _C'mon. C'mon. I've gotta remember the plan. I know it'll work, it has to work. I can't believe him, I can't start believing it's true. But what if they hate me even if it does work? Maybe-_

Beast Boy was jerked out of his reverie by a blow to the ear that knocked him to the floor. He got up slowly. A month of such treatment had taught him the faster you recover, the sooner you get hit again. Slade stood, glaring at Beast Boy from inside his mask.

"Stay out of sight." That was the only command needed. Beast Boy knew what would happen if he didn't follow it. As a tattered dog, he slunk to one side, curled behind one of the huge pieces of silent machinery that sprouted from the cement floor.

_God, I hope I know what I'm doing. _As he huddled in the cold, he kept one eye cracked open, fixed upon Slade and the soulless light of the computer display.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"RAVEN!" Cyborg pounded on Raven's door. "Raven, get your butt down here, I think we've found something!" The door slid open a fraction, and Cyborg was met with the most horribly blank stare he'd even seen. He stepped back nervously, disturbed by the utter emptiness of Raven's eyes.

"What?" she droned.

"Beast Boy," Cyborg stated bluntly. Raven's eyes flashed wide, and there was the sound of an explosion behind her. She slammed the door open with a violent burst of black energy and flew past Cyborg to the main hall, leaving the robotic man to stand stunned for a moment before following his teammate at a run.

In the huge main room of Titan's Tower, Robin and Starfire were already standing grimly in front of the hugely magnified mask of Slade, which glowed eerily from the computer screen. As Raven burst in surrounded by a barely-controlled storm of magic, Robin turned to face her.

"This was a recorded message. We can't ask questions, we don't know anything more than what he says. But it's all we have." Robin beckoned Raven and Cyborg, who had just entered, to the video recording and pressed play.

Slade had recorded himself in utter darkness, only his face illuminated, so as to give no clue to his location. He spoke only a few short words before the image cut to static and snow:

"Beast Boy isn't dead. I am the only one with information. Come to the park tomorrow at four in the morning. You know the exact location already. Don't be late."

And then there was nothing but salt and pepper fuzz blasting over the cold, flat wasteland of the television screen.


	5. Waiting Room

Yay, an update! As a side note, very little planning went into this story. I'm basically making it up as I go. So feel free to suggest things! (Translated as: "Give me a good idea now or I will stuff your socks with dead ferrets and make you eat them.") More suggestions means quicker updates, too. Hint hint wink wink nudge nudge shove.

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Beast Boy slunk through the dark corridors of Slade's hideout as a silent cat. This was it, the last chance. If this didn't work, then the plan was lost, and the Titans… They'd be as good as dead. Finally he reached the computer room, and the green cat limped forward, smelling the air for any signs of Slade. Beast Boy quietly morphed into human form, biting back the pain from many complaining injuries, and sat in front of the enormous computer.

_Good thing it's still on_. He quickly typed in the password and opened the program running the cages. Gingerly, he scrolled through the list of commands for each one, reading carefully. _Here… and here .You had better be as predictable as I think you are, Raven._ Within moments, one or two words and numbers in each program were just slightly different. The program was closed, the screen was blank, and just on the edge of hearing were the receding footsteps of a small cat.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The park was cold. The sky echoed darkly black and cavernous, except for a faint ribbon of vital, glowing indigo on the far horizon, which strained upward in an attempt to overpower the weak and failing stars. Four Titans stood in silence, watching their breaths materialize in clouds of whitish haze. Robin checked his watch: 3:56 a.m. Four minutes to go. The digital glow winked softly in the pre-dawn chill, and still the only sound was of breathing, horribly exposed in the empty night.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

And then one hoarse whisper of, "Now."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Beast Boy simply wandered into the clearing. Not as though he was coming back from the dead. More like he was coming back from the grocery store.

"Hey, guys."

Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin stood in complete shock for the merest second. But that was all Slade needed. Just as they began to rush forward, curious, relieved, and excited, the ground exploded. Four huge silver petals slammed upward to form a sphere around Raven just as strange black ribbons of rough material wove themselves around Robin in a hopeless entanglement. Starfire and Cyborg found themselves in their own spheres, locked in by the solid metal.

Beast Boy slumped down against a tree, no longer casual and nonchalant. He listened to the muffled yells coming from inside the cages with a tired, drained expression. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I'm really sorry. Don't hate me, guys. I'm sorry." He didn't bother to shake the dew off that was forming all over his body, but just let it form little beads that chilled him to the bone. He closed his eyes, without even the energy left to shiver.

The sound of a footfall crushing the dewy grass sent Beast Boy staggering to his feet, using the tree as support.

"Well done, well done indeed. I must say I had my doubts, but this was… marvelous." Slade surveyed the four cages. "Constructing them as solid sphere turned out well. Now they are unable to aid each other _or_ themselves. I'm eager for the next part of this little drama, aren't you? After all, what could be better than the one moment of true betrayal?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Raven bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. Hours ago she had given up on trying to escape. She'd found out soon enough that trying would be worse than just staying still. Every time Raven touched the silver, it stung her hands. When she stuck her burning fingers in her mouth to quench the pain, she found them bleeding and blistered. Her agitated emotions were bringing her demon side into more prominence than usual, and the holy silver scorched any evil that dared touch it. Every bolt of black magic that Raven shot at it was simply absorbed. So she floated, touching nothing, frozen suspended in the velvet darkness. Thinking.

_Slade. How did Slade know? And why was Beast Boy so relaxed back at the park? It couldn't be…No. He wouldn't. Not this. Not to me. I thought… I thought he loved me._

Raven floated in anguished silence, waiting for some release from her prison.

What came instead was light.

Beast Boy looked around at the four now-transparent spheres, one at each corner of the huge arena. He squinted against the too-bright light, feeling naked and exposed. His friends stared from inside their cages, not only at Beast Boy, but around the giant, cavernous space as though expecting something more. Expecting Slade.

Slade didn't come. It was just Beast Boy, standing awkwardly in the center of the floor. His uniform was ragged and rent in places, exposing dark bruises and cuts on his green skin. One abnormally pointed ear was torn and caked with blood, and a swollen scrape on his cheekbone oozed infection. Everything that the indistinct twilight of the park had hidden was now laid bare in the stark light.

_Geez_, he thought, _I didn't know I looked _this_ crappy. Whadda sight. _Beast Boy felt a particularly intent gaze on his back and turned to see Raven staring at him through her clear globe with an indecipherable expression. Disappointment? Sadness? Hate? He turned away uncomfortably. _Good. I guess it's working. But I wish it wasn't so real._

"Beast Boy!" An echoing shout snapped him to attention. "Please, what is going on?" Starfire's voice, though muffled, was clear, and full of nervous, anxious, worry.

Beast Boy opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, the sound of grinding machinery reverberated through the room. High up on one wall, doors slid back for an extending balcony, and finally the Titans stood before the enemy.

All five waited for Slade to move, to speak, but he did nothing. Just loomed in silence over the trapped heroes below him. A feeling of barely controlled panic began to rise in Beast Boy.

_Oh no. Oh no. I bet he found out. He found out. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. Oh God, we're all gonna die. _

Finally Slade spoke. "Tell them. They deserve to know you for the true animal you are."

"What?" Robin turned to Beast Boy. "What's this supposed to mean?" Raven remained silent, staring at the lonely figure in the center of the room, scanning Beast Boy's beaten face. Cyborg hardly reacted: he looked semi-concious. The electric charge in the copper must have messed with his circuits.

Beast Boy remained silent. _Wait for it… Wait for it…_ Slade jumped from the balcony, landing with an assassin's silence, and began to circle Beast Boy.

"Why don't you explain what it means, Beast? Explain to your friends."

_Now._ Beast Boy turned and met Raven's eyes directly. Loud and clear, sneering at the trapped girl, he announced, "I sold you out. I betrayed you all to Slade."

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Sorry my chapters are so short. I would make this longer, but… It's a cliffhanger too good to resist. Not to mention I'm on a deadline for choosing which high school I'll be attending for sophomore year, and that's a bit more pressing than this fanfic. Not much more, I'll grant you, but it is. Lo siento, gomen, sorry. I've got a bit more of an idea about what's happening in the immediate future, so the next chapter will come out pretty quick, I hope. And the next chapter will be a nice long battle sequence, too. Joy! (not)

Thanks to all reviewers, by the way!


	6. Boom

Wow, this was the fastest update I've ever done. Of course this is probably some of the crappiest writing I've ever done. Give a little take a little, eh? I just couldn't wait to write this, even with all the high school shit to contend with. Oh well, I'm dealing with that. Thank everything holy for my English teacher, who kicks the counselor's asses at being honest.

Once again, sorry for a short chapter, and thanks to reviewers Unlikely-to-bear-it, Snow Werewolf, scathac's warrior, Jeryn, Golden-Sama, and Green Comedian.

I'm very honored by your four reviews in a row, Golden-Sama! bows ; 3

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The problem with control is that, with too much of it, pressure tends to build up. It's why you don't shake a closed soda bottle too much. When you open the cap, the soda doesn't stay put. It explodes. Raven had trained all her life to keep every last emotion she felt in check, no matter how shaken she got. The issue here? A small but distinctly important difference. Raven was no fizzy soda. She was an atom bomb.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Even Slade was surprised at Beast Boy's proclamation. He hadn't expected such a bold move from this cowed little guttersnipe. _Such a sudden change…What is he trying to do? _

Beast Boy stood glaring cruelly at Raven. Inside, however, he was frantic.

_She's not moving. She's not moving. Aw, crap, she's not gonna do it! She doesn't believe me and now she's not gonna-_

Slade's eyes flickered from the silent, gaping Titans to the glowering Beast Boy to the utterly still form of Raven. He realized everything a second before it happened.

**BOOM**.

Where Raven had been, a huge, crackling mass of black energy writhed. Her silver prison, just seconds ago an impenetrable horror, had been totally disintegrated. Metallic dust rained down on the two figures in the center of the room.

Half shocked and half relieved, Beast Boy turned to Slade with a fierce, triumphant grin- only to find Slade laughing, just low enough for him to hear through the disturbing electric sounds coming from the gathering ball of inky light in the corner.

"You figured it out, didn't you." Beast Boy's eyes widened. "You won't say a thing."

Slade laughed again, a rough, strangely hushed sound. "Of course. You know, I honestly thought you were stupid enough to do nothing about this. But now… Oh, dear. You weren't counting on me to be angry with you when the cage broke, were you? To prove your innocence? Hmh." Slade stood, hands clasped behind his back, calm as though he had orchestrated the whole fiasco. "I would never deny myself the opportunity of watching your dearest friend kill you"

There wasn't even time for Beast Boy to respond. Raven gave an inhuman shriek, too crazed by anger and grief to know anything but _kill_ anymore, and crashed forward in a tidal wave of deadly, shining magic. Trigon's double red eyes burned from inside the darkness.

In sudden impulse Beast Boy whirled and leapt at Slade with a roar, becoming a massive tiger in one fluid movement. Jaws clamped around an armored shoulder, claws screeched across the black and copper breastplate. Spikes suddenly protruded from Slade's fist and smashed into fur and flesh, but Beast Boy didn't give. Slade twisted his barbed knuckles deeper into the animal's ribs, but the teeth just crunched down harder on his shoulder. Something snapped in Beast Boy's side and spots started to swim through his vision, but his tiger's maw still managed a feral grin.

_At least I can take you with me, bastard._

The black crashed down and swept them both away.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Robin realized the same thing Slade had just moments ago. But he realized a second too late.

"Raven!" Robin and Starfire smashed out of their cages and raced forward across the surgically white floor, now sprinkled with silver dust.

"Raven, it was an act! He was trying to make you-" Robin stopped mid-sentence. Starfire landed next to him, nervously looking up at Raven.

"Why has she stopped like this?" Starfire bit her lip.

"She's… frozen, or something… Star!" Robin grabbed the girl's shoulder and pointed up to the top of the glowing, inky thing that spread its motionless tendrils throughout the arena. "Can you see her eyes?"

"Well… Not quite from here. I will fly up and look." Starfire swept her way through the air to hover in front of the darkness that was Raven's face. "She- Her eyes, they- Her eyes are not red anymore! Raven? Raven? Are you—"

"Don't…move." Raven's hoarse whisper was barely audible. "Now go… away."

Starfire's green eyes opened even larger than usual, and she raced back to Robin.

"Well, what did she say?"

"I am not sure what she truly meant, but I think it is best that for now… we wait."

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Raven had never done anything this hard in her life. Letting all hell loose was one thing. Chaining all hell into suspended animation was quite another. She strained against the emotions that wanted to move the magic, to either retreat or destroy. Her soul screamed with the effort, but kept it all completely still.

_Damned empathy abilities_, her mind panted. _Why do they only work when it's too late?_

Raven could sense the lie now. The sham of a confession. _He wanted me to break the globe. He knew I could take down Slade. You were just a little too believable. Too good, for once in your life. _

_Now what?_

Raven could sense the two souls inside her ebony cloud. One misshapen and warped: Slade. The other less innocent, more pained, than when she had felt it last. And both dying.

Slowly, painstakingly, Raven began to peel back layers of magic, shaking with the effort of control. Layer by layer, the darkness was cast aside to swirl into insubstantial fog. Layer by layer, the light came in.

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HAHAHA, short chapters! Am I making you suffer? Good.


	7. Stupid Narcolepcy

I feel like shit, and I blame the painkillers. Stupid, stupid retainers. I'd rather have someone hit me in the mouth with a hammer than _this_. For those rare few who haven't been put through the hell of orthodontia, I'll tell you what you're missing out on: PAIN.

Moving on. I'm surprised that I like the way this chapter turned out. It was written at some ungodly hour of the night, which must be good for my brain for some reason, because the ideas just poured out. Fun to write, and hopefully fun to read. And, folks, it's LONGER! (Well, not by much… But at least it's something.)

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_Zat_.

"Ahg!" Robin bent over Cyborg, the exposed tips of wires sparking in his hands. The front panel of Cy's machinery lay to one side, leaving him with a gaping cavity full of pistons and wires in his chest. For the past several hours Robin had unsuccessfully been trying to wake Cyborg up and get him running again, but there were so many short circuits that is was hard to know how to fix even a small part of the extremely complex network. Starfire had started her own project of collecting the smashed Tameranian steel from her cage. She busily swept across the floor, hands full of fragments to add to an ever-growing pile.

Robin sat back from his work to sigh and rub his eyes. "Do you think she's moved at all since we last checked?" he called over to Starfire.

"Hmm…" Star thoughtfully set down her current load and flew across to the flaring pillar of immobile blackness that was—or at least, used to be—Raven. She carefully examined the floor, where a few small scratches had been drawn, and then burst happily upright. "She has retreated two feet this time!"

"Really? That's great!" Robin hauled himself up and trotted over to look. The darkness had indeed receded two feet from the last mark. Robin rummaged in his tool belt and found a small knife, which he snicked across the floor right at the new edge of Raven's magic. "At least she's going faster at whatever it is she's doing," he said hopefully.

"Robin…"

"Yeah?"

"Beast Boy is a good actor."

Robin gave a sad half-laugh. "Yeah, yeah he is. Anyone who could fool Raven like that— and Slade like that…"

"Robin."

He looked up.

"Are you jealous?"

"What! Why would I be jealous?"

Starfire smiled forlornly at his snapping, indignant tone. "Because you are not the one who tricked Slade. Because you took no part in this. Because you never defeated him yourself."

Robin winced, and turned away frowning. "I'm just glad that Slade is beaten. At least, I think he's beaten."

"No," Star shook her head. "You are not glad."

A long, awkward silence rang softly in the huge empty space. The dark pillar of magic they stood by shed a layer of gentle fog, and the alien girl and human boy still stood quiet, letting the gray mist swirl through the room.

After a while, a small orange hand appeared on Robin's shoulder. He turned to find himself staring straight into huge green eyes full of gentle empathy.

"And you know, it is not over yet."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

If the effort had seemed torturous three hours ago, by now it was living death. Raven was losing control. Beast Boy was there, barely, but running out of time. As Raven tried to work faster, each discarded layer became a little larger. Larger… and larger… and larger… and the landslide was about to begin.

Raven tightened her failing hold. Her mind bent like hot iron, brain fevered and reeling. She couldn't feel her body anymore, but what consciousness she had left knew that it would be shaking with exertion. Dying.

_Oh, God, I'm dying, I'm dying, I can't do this, I can't…_

If she absorbed the magic all at once she would live—and drag Beast Boy with it into hell.

If she let the magic go she might hurt those around her and would certainly die—but Beast Boy would be alive.

_Damnit—not much—choice—is there… _Raven's mind gasped out. _Here goes nothing…_

One last time before letting loose the night-magic, she reached out weakly to find the spirit she fought to save. _Beast Boy…_ Suddenly Raven jerked in shock. She could sense two things. One was that Beast Boy's hand was inches away from the border between the light and dark. A single layer more and the others would be able to pull him out! The other thing was something horribly _wrong_. Some injury… a hurt too grievous to survive.

_NO!_ Raven screamed out, felt her real voice yell, and shaken with shuddering tremors of pain viciously ripped off the one last layer of magic.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Robin and Starfire leapt at sound of the scream grating in a terrifying, endless howl from over their heads. They spotted the speck of green at the same time. With a cry Starfire lunged through the air and grabbed the green hand, hauling Beast Boy out of the darkness in one graceful heave.

She wasn't expecting Slade, as well.

Both figures were unconscious, Slade with his spiked fist lodged in Beast Boy's side, where cracked bone protruded through the torn and bleeding wound.

There wasn't any time for shock, though. The remainder of the black magic suddenly rushed into a focal point high in the air: Raven.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Raven gasped with the shock as all her magic returned to her at once. All the power flowed back through her veins and muscles, soothed her mind and made it laugh and scream in joy. Everything, _everything_, was coming back, and she couldn't think, only feel the endless cool rush of effortless release.

Smiling, she fell quietly to sleep.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

For a millesecond, Robin stared. All of a sudden, Beast Boy and Slade were there, BB with a wound that made Robin want to puke, the black magic evaporated, and Raven—where was Raven?

"No!" Robin dove forward just in time to catch Raven's falling body, and they ended in a bruised, tangled heap. Extricating himself from the mass on top of him, he examined Raven at first with worry and then surprise. "Hey, Star! Come look at this! Raven's okay, she's asleep… And smiling!"

"Bring her here. We must first tend to- to this." Starfire sounded shaken, and Robin noticed the grave note in her voice. He came to her side as quickly as he could carrying Raven's weight. Turning to look at what Starfire was staring at, he nearly dropped Raven.

The injury was worst than it had looked at first glance. In Beast Boy's side, Slade's fist was cruelly buried. Through the mashed, torn muscle, the broken edge of a rib thrust out, held somewhat in place only by threads of cartilage. The rib must have punctured another organ, because blood trickled out of Beast Boy's mouth in a steady stream, dripping down between his small fangs.

"Oh my god…" Robin and Starfire stood in horrified silence.

"What must we do?" Starfire finally spoke. She seemed to have gathered herself together, and resolutely clenched her fists.

Robin shook himself, picking up on Star's determined attitude. "We've got to wake up Raven. She can heal things like this. I can't perform surgery, I'm not experienced enough. Cy's got the tools, but it's taking forever to rewire him. So it's Raven."

"Alright." Starfire grabbed Raven's limp form from Robin and lay her on the floor. She shook the dark girl's shoulders calling out her name.

"Raven? Raven? … Wake up! Raven, get up…"

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_Gasp!_ Will Raven rise from her trance in time? Will Beast Boy bleed to death? Will my braces actually kill me? Find out in the next chapter!

Hope this was to your liking. Many thanks to reviewers: Mav Gauntlet, Alanna-the-tai-youkai, annoying talking animal, PlAySw/Fire, Green Comedian, scathac's warrior, and Unlikely-to-bear-it. By the way, PlAySw/Fire, if that wasn't a long, detailed review you gave, then I can't wait to see what you think _is_ a detailed review. Thankees!


	8. Deal Me

Sorry this is a bit late. I've been having major writer's block, and only just now figured out how to deal with the situation. To tell the truth, I didn't really figure it out. I'm just making this up and hoping it makes sense. In other news: retainers don't hurt. They're just friggin DISGUSTING. Ew, ew, ew, dried spit gross. Nasty things. I'll stop rambling… After this important message! I'm in the one-act festival at my school, which I wish you all could see. Since you can't, go visit my Devart site (origamiemu. I made a poster for my play. Yay. Yes, I'll finally let you read the actual story now.

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Slade hurt.

His head hurt, his shoulder hurt, his side hurt. He stayed still, breathing shallowly, trying to figure out what had happened. Voices whispered and echoed from somewhere, calling distantly, hopelessly, for Raven. Slade could sense gouges and punctures in his armor, where the punched-in, jagged metal dug into his flesh. He could smell blood. Animal blood.

Slade's eyes snapped open and he grinned inside his mask. This was perfect.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"This is never gonna work." Robin groaned in frustration. "She's hasn't even blinked, and that creepy smile hasn't moved an inch."

"Azarath, metrion, zinthar."

"It's zin_thos_, Star."

"Yes. Zinthos!" Starfire yelled into Raven's ear with as much success as a mosquito trying to move a mountain. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos!"

Time kept moving. Raven was silent.

Suddenly, from behind them, there was a sickening, squelching sound: the splitting of cartilage. Robin and Starfire whirled around in shock. Slade stood, one spiked fist dripping blood, the other hand strangely held to Beast Boy's neck.

Beast Boy was dead.

A moment of horrible silence hung in the air. Starfire's mouth gaped open to scream, rage and pain flooding from her eyes. Before she could make a sound, Slade slashed his fist downward through the air.

"STOP." His voice was icy smooth as ever, no hint of a tremble to betray injury. "I have a proposal to make. An… exchange, of sorts. A life for a life."

Robin growled, voice tense and shaking. "Explain yourself. Beast Boy is…" He trailed off.

"No. He isn't. But he will be—if you don't comply." Slade chuckled. "I see you're confused. I have him in a bubble of suspended animation. It will last for one hour. Once he is out, he has, oh…. a few minutes to live without medical treatment. That hour should be sufficient to get him to a hospital. Of course, if you refuse my offer, that hour can be shortened. Significantly shortened. So will listen?"

Starfire's expression had changed. Her face was set, her body stiff, fists clenched. She turned to Robin and they came to silent, grim agreement.

"What- What are your terms? What's the trade?" Robin glared at Slade.

"Quite simple. Give me Raven. Give me Raven and you'll have a chance to save this pathetic thing's life."

Robin's eyes widened. He suddenly felt hollow and weak. There was no way to choose between friends. To choose one life over the other. To sentence a comrade to death. He looked hopelessly to Starfire, who stood stunned, hands over her mouth, shivering. Robin took a breath and addressed Slade.

"I'll give you a life. But give me time first."

"Very well. You have five minutes. If you haven't chosen by then, the animal dies and you keep the girl."

Robin nodded painfully, took Starfire's arm and led her off to one side. They sat down on the cold white floor with nothing to say. The seconds ground past, and eventually Starfire looked up into Robin's eyes.

"Is there no way to have everyone with us?"

Robin exhaled heavily, trying desperately to think. "There's got to be some way." He kept his voice low. "We can't attack Slade. He's got BB's life on the line. We can't grab BB and run, that'd kill him, and Slade would just come after us. So we have to follow his—agreement. Somehow."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

White. Too much white. _The arena_… Blink. _No… A hospital room. Empty._

No flowers. Huh. Usually there were flowers in hospitals. Blink.

A table. A note.

The patient fumbled weakly to grab the slip of crumpled paper. There was only a short, hasty scribble:

Sorry we can't be here. Get well soon. TTs.

_What?_ That was no explanation. Where were they? Why?

The patient's hand flumped down on the bed. There was a confused, sad sigh, and then sleep.

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Ooooh, guess who's in the hospital coming out of a coma! Rae or BB? Haha, I make you wait to find out. Ten points to whoever guesses! Don't worry, the next chapter will be out quick to make up for the shortness of this. Or maybe not… I've got Hell Week coming up in my play, and I'm not going to have any spare time. If you're nice and review, maybe I'll write it fast-fast-fast.

Thanks to Festering Demon, Alanna-the-tai-youkai, Snow Werewolf, AnAngel'sWings, Golden-Sama, papersak, annoying talking animal, Unlikely-to-bear-it, and Omega Knight of Jurai. I loves you all!


	9. Paper Trail

This soon enough for yall? I just finished with the One Act Festival at my school, which was marvelous. Everyone did incredibly well, so of course I went home and sobbed for hours because my performance was so terrible compared to theirs. Yay for theatre. And yay for comics! I went out and bought two new comic books this weekend: Bleach 3 and Courtney Crumrin. Huzzah! Fine, you want the story? You got it.

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Cyborg woke up. It was hard to see by the dim blue light, but he could make out the faint walls of the cylinder, covered with intricate robotic tools and wires that were barely visible. The repair chamber.

_How'd I get back here?_ Out loud, Cyborg commanded, "Unlock,", and restraints that had been holding him in place _chunk_ed open at the same time as a hairline of light blasted in. The sides of the cylinder rolled away smoothly, the thin line growing to a large opening. Cy stepped out rolling his shoulders and groaning as his back popped.

"Hello? Anybody home?" The lower floor where the repair cylinder was located seemed empty. Machinery hummed quietly, and the buzz seemed to fill the too-large room. "Heh. Guess not."

Upstairs wasn't much better. Sun streamed into the huge main room with its panoramic window, but Cyborg felt edgy. Normally after a mission, Beast Boy would be playing a video game and eating, Starfire might be cooking some too-horrible-to-imagine concoction. Robin should be over there by the computer, checking his weapons. Raven should be floating by the window, meditating. But they weren't.

"Ooo-kaayy…" Talking seemed awkward and too loud. Cyborg headed over to the smaller, safer kitchen to think. Tapping on the counter and absentmindedly looking in the fridge, he tried to figure things out.

"I'm back here, and safe. So that means someone hadda have brought me back. That means that at least one of em's safe. If they aren't here, then there's still trouble, 'cuz they had to leave without dropping a … a note."

Cyborg raced back down the stairs to the repair room and started scouring the walls, worktables, floors, everywhere. Nothing. Back upstairs, around the computer, the window, the couch, and—right there on the coffee table was a scrap of paper with just two words:

Downtown hospital.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The receptionist started at the sound of squealing brakes, and several people in the waiting room turned to look at the blue-and-silver car that had become well known throughout Jump City. Seconds later, Cyborg burst in the door, looking panicked.

"Okay, what's goin' on with my friends?" he demanded of the worried-looking receptionist. "When were they here and what happened?"

"Please, calm down. I don't know much, but the situation seems fine."

"WHAT situation? Can you just tell me- what- is going- on!"

"Please, please," the woman leaned back nervously from Cyborg's glaring face, which was by now inches from her own. "I'll have a nurse take you up immediately. I can assure you that everything is fine." She hurriedly reached for a telephone that connected to a nurse's office, spoke a few quick words and hung up. "Head to the tenth floor. There will be a nurse waiting for you there."

Sheepishly, Cyborg backed off. "Oh. Er, thanks, lady. Sorry about that."

She smiled sympathetically. "It's perfectly alright. I understand."

Cyborg nodded a quick thanks and rushed to the elevator area around the corner, wondering which of his friends was stuck on the tenth floor of a hospital and what could possibly be going on.

The sign that greeted him when the elevator doors opened on the tenth floor was anything but reassuring: Short-Term Blood Storage. Even as Cy read the sign, the door it hung on opened, and a harried-looking doctor stepped out carrying a large bag of—what else—blood.

"Aw, damn," Cyborg muttered under his breath. His stomach clenched as his imagination started running wild, providing him with grotesque images of all the other Titans dying in pools of their own blood, covered in horrible injuries.

"There you are. Come this way, please." The calm, professional voice of a young male nurse jerked Cyborg out of his nightmarish reverie. As the nurse lead him down the hall, he talked casually to Cy, although the Titan's mind was continually drawn in other, disturbing directions as they passed rooms with fatal-sounding notices of car crashes and construction accidents on the doors.

"I'm glad you're able to come. The other Titans had to rush off. Maybe you can provide some help," the nurse stopped. "Here you are. Please come to the desk at the end of the hall if you need me for anything." Then he was gone and Cyborg was left to enter the room alone.

"Please be okay." He opened the door quietly and entered the dimly-lit room before him.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Cyborg?"

"Ohhhhh, god. What…Whadid you_ do_ to yourself?" Cyborg stared in horror at the ghostly face, the way too pale skin.

Beast Boy grinned back. "A whole lotta crap, apparently. So are you…" his voice trailed off and he fell asleep, right in the middle of a sentence.

"Gaah!" Cyborg crashed forward in a panic, stopping himself just short of grabbing Beast Boy's shoulders. A moment of blank horror, and then Cyborg ran out of the room down the hall. The nurse sat at his desk, filing a set of papers, and looked up to see Cyborg's terror-stricken face, his huge metal hands making dents in the countertop.

"He—what—what just—"

"Calm down! Please, calm down. I know it's odd, but your friend is alright."

"Alright! How is that alright? He just—passed out, or somethin'! That's my best friend in there that looks like he's gonna—gonna…die…"

"Trust me. Sit down, and let me explain. Then we can go back to the room and I'll show you the situation more fully."

Reluctantly, Cyborg sank down against the wall, confused and defeated. The nurse came over and sat on the floor beside him.

"Beast Boy lost a lot of blood. We were able to patch up most of the injuries, and those will heal, but for now, he tires easily. It's only been two days since he was brought in. He's made a remarkable recovery already. But… Well, with most people, we can get a blood transfusion right away. Beast Boy is a bit different. There is no blood type to match his exactly. He was perfectly normal when he was very young, but after those…" the nurse frowned, "…experimental cures, there's no telling what regular blood might do. We took a risk and gave him some regular human blood, but considering the gamble, we only gave him enough to keep him alive. He still has much less blood than he should have, but it's the best we could do without more knowledge."

Cyborg stared at the floor. What had happened to cause this? All that time in the cage, unconscious, knowing nothing about what was happening to the other Titans. What had happened that nearly killed Beast Boy, that caused Raven, Robin, and Starfire to disappear into thin air?

Slowly he got up and wandered dazedly back to the dim room that held his friend. In the room, he walked across to the window and opened the curtains, letting in a bright, warm wash of sun.

"Hey… Erg… Light…"

Cyborg turned to see BB squinting out towards the light. The direct sun made him seem even more pale, his green skin almost white and colorless.

"Hy, Cy… Do you know where anyone else is? All I've got is this note." Beast Boy tapped the table by the side of his bed.

"I dunno. I was hoping they'd be here." It was so hard to believe that this fragile, pale person was Beast Boy. He looked like he'd crumble into dust if you poked him, shivering away on the wind like so many dead leaves.

"Geez, you look so _grim_. You make me feel like I'm waiting for the apocalypse, here." BB flashed another grin, showing off his fangs for a second. It helped, in a way.

"So, are you gonna tell me what happened? I've gotta find the other Titans. They might be in trouble."

"Hey, you're going without me? Man, you're crazy. You know you can't survive out there without my help." A short laugh escaped, but some pain or other cut it off, and Beast Boy closed his eyes. He'd fallen asleep again. There were purple circles under his eyes that Cyborg hadn't seen in the dark. Cy got up tiredly to close the curtains again, but he stopped at the sound of Beast Boy's voice.

"Take me with you. If I guessed right, it's the only way we can help."

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Wababababawabawaba…. Gneeshmuck? Harbleflat! ((This is my brain at one in the morning…))

Thank you so much to all reviewers:

Unlikely-to-bear-it

The Mad shoe

Golden-Sama

Alanna-the-tai-youkai

Snow Werewof

UrbanOphelia

scathac's warrior

Festering Demon

IllegalDayNightSnappingIguana

Phonetic Intensive

Kiya

Mav Gauntlet

I bake you all cookies!


	10. Prove It

Wow… That was… Way too long… But at least it's here! ((dodges tomatoes)) Okay, okay, I'm terribly sorry and you are the best readers in the world if you even come back after my horribleness at not updating for probably more than a month. I don't even remember the last time I updated. Cool. I think. Well, this fic might be nearing it's conclusion in the next few chapters, but I already have an idea for another Titans fic. I'm going to be home for the next month, so expect many happy updates! Hooray! **Extra special newsflash:** I just started a webcomic by name of Fade to Black. If you've ever been in theatre, you'll like it. Actually, I hope you like it even if you haven't been in theatre. So go check it out at ((without the spaces)): http/ fadetoblack. keenspace. com. It's cool. I think.

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Raven yawned, arching her back, sprawled out over the carpet. She smiled without opening her eyes. A bright play of light from some window warmed her face and body as she sleepily nuzzled her arm, which she was using as a pillow.

_What a nice morning…Even my magic feels happy, somehow. _

A clock ticked hypnotically from somewhere nearby, counting away lazy seconds of the honey-thick time. The sunlight dimmed and then brightened as a cloud passed.

Raven opened her eyes.

A puzzled frown crossed her features for a moment, but soon enough she smiled and closed her eyes again. It was nothing to worry about. She was happy. Raven brushed any trace of the bothersome thoughts from her mind, but her subconscious remained confused.

Why exactly was she in an office building?

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Beast Boy? You doin' okay, man?" Cyborg glanced into the rear-view mirror, checking on his friend's prone form in the backseat.

"Huh? Oh, yeah…" Beast Boy mumbled. He closed his eyes again and tried to block out the raucous sound of car horns as they sped down the highway. He had to think, but it was so hard to concentrate. Thoughts slipped through his mind like sand, consciousness wavering, turning the real world into a mirage. There was something he had to remember, something about the darkness, about…

The effort of focusing was too much. Beast Boy fell back into shadowy insensibility and

_Raven wasn't floating, as was usual. She stood firmly on the ground, weighed down by the density inside her. The power. So much of it, so tightly packed. So heavy. The world around her began to distort. Beast Boy felt the pull, Raven's gravity sucking him in, twisting and bending him as he clung to the earth. The stars overhead slowly became streaks of light that stretched like taffy toward the pale, pale girl. Beast Boy yelled, but the air carrying the sound was so warped, bent towards Raven, that nothing could be heard. The ground started to crack, heaving up towards_

A particularly loud car horn jerked the green boy awake again.

"Damnit… Not again." Beast Boy sighed, too quietly for Cyborg to hear over traffic. He brought a hand up to massage his throbbing head, but the movement sent a twinge of pain through his broken ribs and he cut the motion short. From where he lay on the back seats of the T-car, Beast Boy could see his reflection on the inside of the window.

_Cool. I almost don't look half-dead. _None of the numerous bandages or twisted stitches on his torso could be seen, as they were covered by the thick soft fabric of a hooded sweatshirt. This had been the only practical solution at hand: Beast Boy's uniform was too torn and bloodstained to wear, and its tightness might have aggravated some of his injuries. Now, with the sweatshirt and a pair of baggy jeans to complete the picture, Beast Boy might have been any normal, healthy teenager— if not for his green skin, made even more sickly by the scrapes, bruises, and blood loss he had suffered. He stuck his tongue out at his reflection and bared a fang. _No worries, Rae. You've got the only living corpse in Jump City coming to save you. Yup. You are in good hands indeed. _

"Robin!"

"Gah!" Beast Boy jumped in surprise at Cyborg's shout and immediately winced. "What's going on?"

"It's Robin! I can see him just over-"

"Friend?" The car in the next lane was lucky to survive as the T-car swerved suddenly to the side.

"Starfire! Jeez, don't _scare_ me like that!" Cyborg grumbled at the pair of enormous green eyes that had just appeared outside the window.

"Friend Cyborg, you are repaired, yes? Please hurry-" Starfire disappeared from view for an instant as she flew to avoid a passing motorcycle, "-I believe we have just lost Slade, and- Beast Boy!"

Beast Boy blinked tiredly and gave Starfire a wave and a grin. "Yo."

"Cyborg, he is not well, he should not—"

"Hold up for a minute, you've gotta tell me where we're going first."

"Right here."

Cyborg slammed the car to a screeching halt. "Y'know, Star, you could have told me a little sooner…" He didn't have time to finish berating Starfire as Robin ran up, looking agitated and red in the face.

"Cy! You're alright? Good. Listen, something funny is going on. Slade just went into this building with Raven-"

"Wait, with Raven? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Long story. But he came out empty-handed. Star and I have got to track Slade in case he's got another plan. You stay and search the building. Titans, g-"

_Thunk_.

The unexpected opening of a car door caught Robin from behind and knocked him into a magnificent faceplant. He leapt up sputtering.

"Cyborg, what are you—" Wait. Cyborg was standing in front of him. Already out of the car.

"Sorry, dude."

Robin turned around slowly, dreading what he'd see.

Beast Boy slammed the door shut again, staggering back a bit with the force and grabbing the car for support. "Heh heh… My bad."

Strangling between shock, worry, and anger, Robin just stared for a minute at the wobbly and weak-looking Beast Boy, then did what Robin does best: started yelling.

"What are you DOING here? You were halfway dead last time we saw you, you're in no condition to be doing anything like this! Cyborg, take Beast Boy back to the hospital RIGHT NOW, because BB, if you try to do anything you'll either kill yourself or get in the way, and both of those are BAD. Cy, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, lock him in the car if you have to but DON'T let him fight. TITANS GO!"

And Robin was gone, roaring down the street on his R-cycle, Starfire following and looking apologetically over her shoulder.

Cyborg and Beast Boy were left standing in awkward silence, traffic rushing past uncaringly. Cyborg haltingly and guiltily tried to offer up a thought.

"I hate to tell you this, BB, but I think Robin has a point. Maybe you should—"

"No. No way. I'm not going back to the hospital. C'mon Cy, you're my best friend. I've gotta stay, you know that."

"Hey, look, I just don't want you dead, like Robin sa—"

"Robin?" Beast Boy started shouting. "_Robin?_ Yeah, like he cares! You heard him! I'm just gonna get in the way like this! Well y'know what? Now I _have_ to stay, I really have to! I've gotta prove him wrong, prove Slade wrong. D'you know what Slade said, that whole month I was stuck with him? That none of you guys CARED! That I was useless anyways!" He felt light-headed, reeling, disturbing blankness eating away the edges of his vision. "And now Raven's in there, and her magic's all screwed up because I was TOTALLY USELESS! Is that all I've ever been? How come you didn't tell me that you didn't need me? Why didn't you just kick me out?"

Beast Boy dropped to his knees, a cold film of sweat on his face and shaking hands. "Please, just let me stay… Just let me do one thing to help… Just… Just one thing…"

That was when he passed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Woo! Beast Boy torture is so, so much fun… Shall we make him suffer more, my dearies? Yes, we shall!


End file.
